At the Governor’s Local Issues Conference today in Louisville, Kentucky, Department for Local Government Commissioner Sandra Dunahoo announced that Paducah will be receiving a $1 million Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for the rehabilitation of Floodwall Pump Station #2.

Mayor Brandi Harless says, “Paducah’s location at the confluence of two major rivers leads to incredible economic development and tourism opportunities. We see that daily with our river industries and with the visits by riverboats. However, our location on the Ohio River also requires significant infrastructure for protection. This grant will assist in our plans to rehabilitate and preserve Paducah’s floodwall.”

City Manager Jeff Pederson says, “Receiving this CDBG is a credit to the efforts by the community in helping us gather the required information and by City staff in developing a well-organized project that would stand out in a competitive grant program.”

In order to complete the application and show that the area qualifies for this grant based on the percentage of low-to-moderate income residents, the City had to generate a random sampling of 350 addresses of homes served by pump station #2. Staff and elected officials conducted door-to-door surveys of those residents.

Floodwall Pump Station #2 located at 1416 North 6th Street is in critical need of rehabilitation. The rehabilitation would include replacement of discharge pipes, the rehabilitation of various mechanical components of all seven pumps and motors not previously repaired, and the replacement of the sluice gate. Pump Station #2 has the largest pumping capacity of 313,000 gallons per minute. Since it’s the first station to be activated at a local river stage of 27.5 feet, it receives the most wear-and-tear.

The total project to rehabilitate Pump Station #2 is estimated to be approximately $5 million which includes construction and engineering costs. In addition to this CDBG funding award, the City was notified last November that it would be receiving a $400,000 grant from the Delta Regional Authority’s Community Infrastructure Fund.

The City of Paducah floodwall extends 12.25 miles with 9.25 miles of earthen levee and 3.0 miles of concrete. The floodwall was constructed between August 1939 and July 1949. The City took over operation and maintenance of the floodwall in 1949. An estimated $1.2 billion of City and County assets are protected by Paducah’s floodwall protection system.

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